American Airlines announced on Thursday that the Boeing 737 MAX has been removed from their schedule until April 7, 2020. As previously reported, the airline will run flights for invited guests and team members before the aircraft returns to revenue service.
Today, American Airlines announced that their grounded Boeing 737 MAX aircraft have been removed from their schedule until April 7, 2020. The new return to service (RTS) date has been extended from the previously announced RTS date of March 4, 2020. Although Boeing had hoped the aircraft fixes would be completed by the end of the year, that optimistic timeframe now seems all but impossible. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has signaled that they will not be under any time pressure and that the aircraft will be re-certified when it is ready. As previously reported, once the RTS has been authorized by the FAA, American Airlines will conduct demonstration flights with invited guests and team members prior to releasing the aircraft into revenue service.
Passengers that have been booked on the 737 MAX through April 6, 2020 will see their reservations updated on aa.com. American plans a phased reintroduction of the aircraft throughout April and any passengers who will be impacted by further schedule changes will be contacted directly. Passengers who will be impacted by cancellations or schedule changes will be contacted by American Airlines by e-mail or phone starting December 22, 2019. If reservations were booked through a travel agent, customers will be contacted by their agency. The airline will issue refunds to customers booked on canceled flights that choose not to be rebooked. Customers can request refunds at aa.com/refunds.
Source: American Airlines